# List of ambassadors of the United States to Albania

This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Albania. The ambassador is the head of the Embassy of the United States in Tirana.

## History

Albania had been under the domination of the Ottoman Empire since the 14th century, but gained a shaky independence in 1912 after an uprising against the Turks. After suffering invasions and occupations during the First and Second Balkan Wars and the Great War, Albania achieved a relatively stable degree of statehood.
The United States established diplomatic relations with Albania in 1922. President Harding appointed the first U.S. Minister to Albania, Ulysses Grant-Smith, who arrived in Tirana in December 1922. The first envoys to Albania had the rank of Minister.
Albania–United States relations were broken in 1939 upon the Italian invasion of Albania just prior to the start of World War II. Relations were not restored until the downfall of Communism in Europe in 1991.

## Ambassadors

| # | Name | Title | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission |
| 1 | Ulysses Grant-Smith – Career FSO | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | September 22, 1922 | December 4, 1922 | Left post, February 8, 1925 |
| 2 | Charles C. Hart – Political appointee | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | May 27, 1925 | August 1, 1925, and December 13, 1928 | Left post, December 12, 1929 |
| 3 | Herman Bernstein – Political appointee | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | February 17, 1930 | April 28, 1930 | Left post, September 24, 1933 |
| 4 | Post Wheeler – Career FSO | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | August 26, 1933 | November 28, 1933 | Left post, November 1, 1934 |
| 5 | Hugh Gladney Grant – Political appointee | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | August 9, 1935 | November 8, 1935 | Left post, September 27, 1939 |
| | Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991, with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status, and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador. | Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991, with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status, and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador. | Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991, with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status, and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador. | Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991, with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status, and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador. | Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991, with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status, and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador. |
| 6 | William Edwin Ryerson – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 2, 1991 | December 21, 1991 | Left post, October 13, 1994 |
| 7 | Joseph Edward Lake – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 5, 1994 | October 17, 1994 | Left post, March 15, 1996 |
| 8 | Marisa R. Lino – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 2, 1996 | September 4, 1996 | May 20, 1999 |
| 9 | Joseph Limprecht – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 7, 1999 | September 8, 1999 | Died in northern Albania, May 19, 2002 |
| 10 | James Franklin Jeffrey – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | October 3, 2002 | October 22, 2002 | May 2, 2004 |
| 11 | Marcie B. Ries – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | October 18, 2004 | October 30, 2004 | June 16, 2007 |
| 12 | John L. Withers, II – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 28, 2007 | August 29, 2007 | November 10, 2010 |
| 13 | Alexander Arvizu – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 1, 2010 | December 6, 2010 | January 11, 2015 |
| 14 | Donald Lu – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 16, 2014 | January 13, 2015 | September 19, 2018 |
| - | Leyla Moses-Ones | Chargé d'Affaires a.i. | September 19, 2018 | | January 27, 2020 |
| 15 | Yuri Kim - Career General | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | November 21, 2019 | January 27, 2020 | June 25, 2023 |
| - | Damian Smith - Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires a.i. | June 26, 2023 | | August 1, 2023 |
| - | H. Martin McDowell - Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires a.i. | August 1, 2023 | | August 18, 2023 |
| - | David Wisner - Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires a.i. | August 18, 2023 | | August 5, 2024 |
| - | Nancy Vanhorn - Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires a.i. | August 5, 2024 | | Incumbent |